O thou of Surippak, son of Ubaratutu,
Leave thy house and build a ship.
They will destroy the seed of life.
Do thou preserve in life, and hither bring the seed of life
Of every sort into the ship.
[Here follows a statement of the dimensions of the ship, but the numbers are lost.]
When this I heard to
Ea my lord I spake:—
The building of the
ship, O lord, which thou commandest
If I perform it, people
and elders will mock me.
Ea opened his mouth
and spake,
Spake to me, his servant:—
[The text is here mutilated: Hasisadra is ordered to threaten the mockers with Ea’s vengeance.]
Thou, however, shut
not thy door till I shall send thee word.
Then pass through the
door and bring
All grain and goods
and wealth,
Family, servants and
maids and all thy kin,
The cattle of the field,
the beasts of the field.
Hasisadra opened his
mouth, to Ea his lord he said:—
O my lord, a ship in
this wise hath no one ever built....
[Hasisadra tells how he built the ship according to Ea’s directions.]
All that I had I brought
together,
All of silver and all
of gold,
And all of the seed
of life into the ship I brought.
And my household, men
and women,
The cattle of the field,
the beasts of the field,
And all my kin I caused
to enter.
Then when the sun the
destined time brought on,
To me he said at even-fall:—
Destruction shall the
heaven rain.
Enter the ship and close
the door.
With sorrow on that
day I saw the sun go down.
The day on which I was
to enter the ship I was afraid.
Yet into the ship I
went, behind me the door I closed.
Into the hands of the
steersman I gave the ship with its cargo.
Then from the heaven’s
horizon rose the dark cloud
Raman uttered his thunder,
Nabu and Sarru rushed
on,
Over hill and dale strode
the throne-bearers,
Adar sent ceaseless
streams, floods the Anunnaki brought.
Their power shakes the
earth,
* * * * *
Raman’s billows
up to heaven mount,
All light to darkness
is turned.
* * * * *
Brother looks not after
brother, no man for another cares.
The gods in heaven are
frightened, refuge they seek,
Upward they mount to
the heaven of Anu.
Like a dog in his lair,
So cower the gods together
at the bars of heaven.
Ishtar cries out in
pain, loud cries the exalted goddess:—
All is turned to mire.
This evil to the gods
I announced, to the gods foretold the evil.
This exterminating war
foretold
Against my race of mankind.
Not for this bare I